An internal error occurred while installing the service pack. Error code: 0x80070490

This post will cover how to fix the Windows Vista SP1 error: An internal error occurred while installing the service pack. Error code: 0x80070490

While sometimes this error can be seen because of bad ram or a hard drive that has some corrupt files, it typically means that there is some issues with the windows folder permission from a previous patch. It can also be caused by security suites like Norton 360 preventing Windows patches from executing propperly!

The trick is to rename the following folder:

C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\WMI\RtBackup

The problem, however, is that because the permissions on this folder are wrong, you can’t rename it yourself without some additional help. You’ll need to download the Unlocker utility:

Once that installs (it will most likely take quite a while), Use Windows Update to keep installing the updates. Eventually you will get to Windows SP1. You should now find that it now installs just fine. You should no longer get the error: An internal error occurred while installing the service pack. Error code: 0x80070490